This invention relates to a projectile designed to be fired from a weapon barrel and stabilized by a guide assembly.
Projectiles of the above type have been known for a long time. The guide assembly includes a plurality of stabilizing wings which are mounted on the rearward portion of the projectile in a circumferentially uniformly distributed array and which are deployed (pivoted outwardly) as the projectile leaves the weapon barrel. In the weapon barrel the wings lie against the projectile body and as the projectile leaves the weapon barrel the wings pivot rearwardly into their deployed (open) position.
In conventional projectiles where in the folded state of the guide assembly the pivot axis of the respective wing is located radially outwardly relative to the center or gravity of the wing, the wings lie against the projectile while accelerated in the barrel. Disadvantageously, however, relatively large forces are needed for opening the guide assembly after the projectile has left the weapon barrel. This circumstance requires, for example, expensive and heavy spring systems which are necessarily accelerated with the projectile as dead weight.
In guide assemblies in which the respective center of gravity of the wings is, in the folded state of the guide assembly, located radially outwardly relative to the rotary axis of the respective wing, due to acceleration in the weapon barrel, the wings are frequently pressed against the inner barrel wall and thus may cause damage thereto. Thus, the wings may "hook" into the delicate inner chromium layer of the weapon barrel.
German Patent No. 1,232,500 discloses a projectile having a fixed guide assembly. On the upper wing edges narrow plastic gliding bodies are mounted for guidance in the weapon barrel. To ensure that the gliding bodies are cast off after the projectile leaves the weapon barrel, they have a relatively complex construction: Between the gliding body and the respective stabilizing wing a hollow space is formed which is externally accessible by connecting channels. A significant quantity of propellant gases penetrates into the hollow chamber during the firing process and causes a separation of the gliding body from the stabilizing wing after the projectile leaves the weapon barrel.